Phil Spencer reveals his dad suffered from dementia and mum had Parkinson’s when they died in tragic crash
PHIL Spencer has revealed that his dad suffered from dementia and his mum had Parkinson’s when they died in a tragic car crash.
The Location, Location, Location star’s father David, 89, and mother Anne, 82, were killed when their car careered into a river on the family farm where he grew up.
They were on their way to a local pub for lunch on Friday when the car veered off the access road into a shallow tributary river running through their estate.
The couple were pulled from the vehicle but could not be saved.
Now Presenter Phil has given more information about their health before the crash.
He said: “Although they were both on extremely good form in the days before (hence the sudden idea to go out to lunch), Mum’s Parkinson’s and Dad’s dementia had been worsening and the long term future was set to be a challenge.
“So much so that Mum said to me only a week ago that she had resigned to thinking “now it looks like we will probably go together”. And so they did.”
Phil also revealed heartbreaking new details about the crash.
Writing on Instagram, he said: “The car, going very slowly, toppled over a bridge on the farm drive, upside down into the river.
“There were no physical injuries and I very much doubt they would have even fought it – they would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away.
“Their carer was in the car and managed to climb out of a back window so the alarm was raised quite quickly.”
Phil also praised his brother who desperately tried in to save their parents after the crash.
Phil said: “As many farmers do – my brother had a penknife and so was able to cut the seat belts – he pulled them out of the river but they never regained consciousness.
“Although desperately sad and shocked beyond all belief – all family are clear that if there can ever be such a thing as having a “good end” – this was it.”
He finished his statement by adding: “It feels horrendous right now, but after almost 60 years of marriage – to die together on the farm they so loved will, I know, be a comfort in the future.
“Mum and Dad are together which is precisely where they would have wanted to be.”
Phil, who lives in Hampshire with wife Fiona and their two children, has previously spoken fondly of being a farmer’s son, and having an idyllic childhood.
He has a holiday cottage on the site, which his father ran before handing over to eldest son Robert.